Ease vs. tradition: The Christmas tree debate goes on

Many Christmas tree growers are counting on tradition and loyal clientele to help them stay in business as more artificial trees find their way into local homes.

Chinki Sinha

For more than 22 years, Frank Mazzara and his family have been going to Atanasoff’s Tree Farm in Deerfield, N.Y., near Utica, to cut their own Christmas tree, load it up and then head for breakfast.

Twelve family members, spanning at least three generations, kept with that tradition on the farm Sunday while John Atanasoff pointed out the best of his crop.

For Mazzara, there’s nothing like a real tree, he said. The smell, the freshness and the memories outweigh the work that goes into cutting and maintaining it.

“We have always cut our own tree,” Mazzara said. “Artificial trees are like blow-up design. It is the easy American thing.”

Many Christmas tree growers in the region are counting on tradition and loyal clientele to help them stay in business as more artificial trees make inroads into local homes.

Sales of artificial Christmas trees have gone up more than 25 percent — from 7.3 million in 2001 to 9.3 million in 2006 — according to National Christmas Tree Association data.

Real Christmas trees have not quite kept pace: Sales increased roughly 3 percent from 27.8 million in 2001 to 28.6 million in 2006.

Laura Fuller of Vernon prefers an artificial tree, she said Friday while shopping at Target at Sangertown Square in New Hartford, N.Y.

“I am allergic to the real trees, and they are not allowed in the dorm rooms because they are a fire hazard.” Fuller said.

The History

Christmas trees were introduced in United States by German settlers in the 1800s, according to National Christmas Tree Association, and they began to be sold commercially in 1851.

Soon after, in 1883, artificial trees were offered. With conservationists encouraging people to go for artificial trees to stop the destruction of forests in the early 1900s, artificial trees started getting more popular.

Omar Massoud of Massoud’s Tree Farm in New Hartford started selling Christmas trees in the 1980s.

Over the years, he and his wife, Judy, have sold thousands of trees to families that come back each year, he said.

For Judy Massoud, the business is about the joy of seeing children who once accompanied their parents to the farm now bring in their own babies.

“It’s memories,” she said. “It is all a part of creating and being part of their memories.”

Sharon George of George’s Farm Products Inc. in Clinton, N.Y., said she often sees families with their children in a sledge go into the woods to choose that perfect Christmas tree.

“The trees are a byproduct of your personality,” he said. “There’s always families with young kids that want to come out and cut their own.”

The Debate

The one-time cost for artificial Christmas trees can be appealing, some customers say. The trees can be packed and reused while real ones last only weeks.

And with more manufacturing moving to China, prices for artificial trees have gone down considerably, said Richard Moore of the National Christmas Tree Association.

“We would not compete with that,” he said. “With us, it is the tradition that counts.”

Artificial trees also are neater: Owners have to water real Christmas trees and clean up the needles that fall off.

“Price is not really a detrimental factor,” Moore said. “It is the convenience, the messiness .…”

But artificial trees present an environment problem because they don’t decompose in landfills.

“A real tree … after it has served its purpose, it can be ground into wood chips,” Moore said. “We may use a fake tree for a few years and then it goes to a landfill for a few thousand years.”